Grants for Museums

Foundation Purpose

Art Mentor Foundation Lucerne seeks to contribute to the development of a vital culture of excellence in classical music and to help attract new audiences to the field. To achieve these objectives, the Foundation sponsors international academies and master classes conducted by established instructors.

In addition, Art Mentor Foundation Lucerne supports outstanding event series or festivals with visionary programming and innovative modes of outreach and communication to foster the public’s engagement with classical music. In general, the Foundation focuses on the promotion of new and contemporary music, although projects on music from other eras are by no means excluded.

Focus Areas

Visual Arts

Art Mentor Foundation Lucerne’s concept of «Visual Art» encompasses not only the classical genres of art such as painting, sculpture, graphic art, drawing and photography, but also new forms of expression and media such as performance, experimental film and video. The Foundation provides funds for regular and special exhibitions as well as their accompanying catalogues at publicly accessible, well established museums and art collections provided that the exhibitions funded are international in their orientation, relevant from an art historical perspective, and carefully curated. Furthermore, Art Mentor Foundation Lucerne supports innovative und interactive projects that explore new approaches to fostering art education so as to attract new audiences. In principle, the Foundation also provides funds for the involvement of modern media in the expansion or presentation of significant pieces of art in the context of major museum projects.c

Music

Art Mentor Foundation Lucerne predominantly supports contemporary classical music projects. However, projects on music from other eras are not excluded as a rule. In its effort to contribute to the development of professional music culture, the Foundation supports international academies and master classes conducted by established instructors. Furthermore, Art Mentor Foundation Lucerne supports various series of music events or festivals that explore new ways of fostering the public’s engagement with classical music in an attempt to attract new audiences. In principle, professional orchestras and ensembles or music centers may also submit a project request for the equipment of rehearsal rooms, the acquisition of instruments or other infra-structural needs.

Cultural Education

In the area of Cultural Education, Art Mentor Foundation Lucerne supports projects that bear a significant relation to Visual Art or Music. The target group includes children and teenagers, particularly from underprivileged backgrounds, who are introduced to art and music in the context of curricular or extracurricular activities. In this way, Art Mentor Foundation Lucerne offers support to teenagers in their personal development and, at the same time, trains the next generation of artists as well as a future audience. A project request can only be submitted provided that the programs are developed, conducted, and realized by a professional artist or a recognized public institution. Furthermore, the projects should have a long-term horizon and be accessible to as wide a group of participants as possible. Art Mentor Foundation Lucerne funds both expansion and continuation of ongoing projects as well as the launch of exemplary pilot projects.

NOTE: Prospective grantees should review program area guidelines before inquiring about a particular project. If Foundation staff find that the project fits within the Foundation’s grantmaking priorities, staff will invite a grant proposal. Once invited, grantees should be prepared to work closely with program staff in refining the proposal, often through multiple drafts.

The arts constitute fields of inquiry and production that are distinct from other forms of thought and expression.  Accumulated over millennia, our global artistic heritage is a resource for cultural renewal as well as historical understanding.  Through performances, objects, and images, artists have long provoked insight and pleasure, and enriched and reflected on human experience.  In contemporary society, they stimulate innovation, reinvent media, articulate cultural critique, and work with communities to effect change.

Mission and Goals 

The Arts and Cultural Heritage program seeks to nurture exceptional creative accomplishment, scholarship, and conservation practices in the arts, while promoting a diverse and sustainable ecosystem for these disciplines.  The program supports the work of outstanding artists, curators, conservators, and scholars, and endeavors to strengthen performing arts organizations, art museums, research institutes, and conservation centers.  Alongside our continued commitments to exemplary programs in the performing arts, art history, and conservation, new areas and strengthened emphases include:

• Programs that strengthen the creation and preservation of, as well as scholarship about, new media and multidisciplinary arts 
• Initiatives that broaden public access to and understanding of the arts 
• Research, training, and recruitment programs that enhance diversity and inclusion in arts organizations 
• Collaborations between institutions of higher education and the arts
•  Efforts to address vulnerabilities distinctive to the arts, such as the financial health of small arts organizations and emergency preparedness and response

Background

At the Julius Baer Foundation we pursue two paths towards a better world: reducing Wealth Inequality in our society and finding alternative Solutions Replacing Plastics on our planet.

For over fifty years, the Julius Baer Foundation has been dedicated to making meaningful and impactful contributions to society. The grant foundation of the Julius Baer Group was established in 1965 by Walter J. Bär to support all forms of art and culture, various sciences and carefully selected charitable causes in Switzerland.

Over the years, the Foundation has expanded its presence and reach. We helped to found the ‘Julius Bär Stiftung Deutschland’ in 2019 and today we support initiatives worldwide that drive change and have the potential to become role models for others.

Core Areas

With our network of partner organisations, we dedicate ourselves to two strategic core areas:

• Wealth Inequality and
• Solutions Replacing Plastics.

Additionally, we continue our traditional solidarity and art engagement through the support of the Julius Baer employee-based JB Cares organisation and selected art museums in Switzerland.

Wealth Inequality

Our Vision

We envision a society in which the privileged and the disadvantaged enrich each other’s lives through collaborations that benefit all the parties involved and advance the potential of humanity. 

Our Mission 

We promote voluntary exchange between the privileged and the disadvantaged to reduce existing inequalities of means and opportunities. We do this by supporting, guiding and investing in Wealth Inequality initiatives that bring people of different socio-economic groups into cooperation on concrete projects that create value for them and their communities.

Solutions Replacing Plastics

Our Vision

We envision a society whose economic aspirations are sustainable, mindful of the environment and respectful of natural resources as the foundations of our prosperity. 

Our Mission 

We promote sustainable economies that protect the environment from pollution through plastics. We do this by supporting and investing in visionary business models that build on alternative Solutions Replacing Plastics or on circular economies recycling plastics.

Please note that we do not accept unsolicited grant proposals. Because of our tightly-defined grantmaking strategies, many worthwhile projects fall outside the scope of our funding priorities. However, if you have thoughts or inquiries related to our work that you would like to share, you may send us a brief, ~100-word email. Please understand that due to the volume of inquiries we receive, we are only able to commit to reviewing those inquiries that adhere to the ~100-word guideline.We fund projects that enable and sustain scientific curiosity and problem solving to cultivate a lifelong interest in science. We want to improve society’s understanding of the inherent value of science and contribute to a more informed public that appreciates science, considers data and evidence, and engages in rational decision making in personal and civic lives. To achieve these outcomes, we make grants across interrelated thematic threads: science learning assessment and innovative models for science-rich engagement.Our science learning efforts include multiple facets.Science Learning AssessmentThe Science Learning Assessment portfolio aims to demonstrate new techniques and tools for measuring what matters for science learning. Supporting projects that drive innovations in what and how we assess in science learning can contribute to improved practices in science education, including helping to better understand what programs and experiences are most effective. While we primarily focus our efforts outside of schools and classrooms, we also look for collaborations that can help bridge our work to other learning settings, including schools. New types of assessment that are developed through this portfolio will help build a better understanding of the critical factors that influence science learning, thereby informing the design of learning experiences across settings.Innovative Models for Science-Rich EngagementWe want to encourage scientific inquiry at all ages and provide opportunities for children and their families to explore the world around them. Children experience the wonder of science all around them. It might begin with bugs in the backyard or pondering how bubbles form or wondering what causes the edge of a cloud to take shape. Often these openings to explore and understand natural phenomena stop right there: the question, the idea, the observation. However, encouraging children to persist in this inquiry, and providing tools to help them do so, offers opportunities for much deeper engagement with science. Whether kids called these explorations science, or whether they view them as just messing around, is not necessarily important. Through these curiosity-driven actions they can explore fundamental questions, develop and deepen interests, and learn to systematically pursue understanding.This exploratory collection of grants supports more sustained and robust public engagement and interest in science through investments in the design and study of innovative models for science-rich engagement. From use of low-cost high quality science tools for exploration or problem solving, to science or engineering sets that spark curiosity, these grants aim to generate new ideas and prototypes for experiences that inspire and engage the broader public engagement with science.  A 2014 Science Play and Research Kit (SPARK) Competition challenged participants to generate a new set of experiences and activities that spark imagination and sustained interest in science and technology. Research on Science-Rich Engagement and LearningWe seek to understand the impact of our work and, whenever possible, we use our investments as an opportunity to better understand the dynamics of what leads to persistent engagement in science. These efforts synergize with our investments in science and technology museums in the San Francisco Bay Area.

NOTE: A Letter of Inquiry must first be submitted via the Online Grant Application System between November 1st and February 1st of the year in which a grant is requested. If the proposal meets the stated guidelines and priorities of the Foundation & Memorial Trust, Grant Application instructions will be sent to the applicant.

About The Memorial Trust

In 1975, two years after his death, The John Ben Snow Memorial Trust was established in New York. The four original trustees were a member of the Snow family, a lawyer, a publishing associate and a corporate trustee, the Irving Trust Company, now BNY Mellow N.A.. The current Trustees continue this legacy being well aware of the donor and his beliefs, values and ideals. The John Ben Snow Memorial Trust strategically focuses funding within specific geographic regions of the United States across a range of program areas. They meet once a year, usually in June.

The John Ben Snow Memorial Trust

The Memorial Trust strategically focuses funding within specific geographic regions of the United States across a range of program areas (prioritized below and visually depicted here) while responding to the ever-changing needs of various segments of the population, especially to the needs of youth and people who are disadvantaged economically, emotionally, or physically.

Dating back to the inception of the Trust in 1973, the primary and overarching grant making priority has been and continues to be programs that focus on education.

• Education: This program area targets funds to organizations that provide educational opportunities or academic assistance to individuals who demonstrate an intellectual aptitude and a financial need. Examples include scholarships, fellowships, academic tutoring or counseling, literacy, and journalism.

Secondarily, the Trust considers proposals within the areas of Arts and Culture, Community Initiatives, and Youth Programs. The Trustee’s objective is to extend the primary educational focus by providing funding support within these additional program areas.

• Arts and Culture: This program offers grants that promote arts education and appreciation, particularly for young adults, via the development of educational curriculum and professional instruction including visiting artists and performance support for targeted populations.
• Community Initiatives: This program provides funding for programs or services that directly improve the quality of life within the geographic focus areas that we serve. Examples include support for libraries, food pantries and shelters, and neighborhood revitalization. Generally, the Trust does not seek proposals for health care initiatives or animal welfare programs.
• Youth Programs: This program area offers grants that provide character education or enrichment opportunities via mentoring or after-school programming. 

As a third priority, the Trust does consider proposals in the areas of Disabilities and Universal Access, Environmental, and Historic Preservation. As these are not core focus areas, funding is often limited. Priority will be given to proposals with an educational focus.

• Disabilities and Universal Access: This program offers grants to organizations in complying with ADA requirements within their facilities (e.g. elevator, handrails, automatic doors, and ramps) or offering services targeted for individuals with physical, mental, or emotional disabilities.
• Environmental: This program provides funds for organizations that strive to protect strategic parcels of land and bodies of water as well as programs that educate the general public on key environmental issues such as conservation and water management.
• Historic Preservation: This program provides funding for organizations that preserve historical artifacts (e.g. sites, structures, objects) and accounts (e.g. events), and educate the greater community on their significance. Examples include museums, historical societies and educational programming.

History

The Robert Lehman Foundation Inc. was incorporated in 1943 to serve as a vehicle for its Founder’s benefactions in the field of the visual arts.

On Mr. Lehman’s death in 1969, his entire collection, one of the most extraordinary and wide-ranging in the world, was bequeathed to the Foundation, on which responsibility devolved for carrying out Mr. Lehman’s wish that the collection be exhibited intact and in perpetuity in a manner evoking the ambiance of his ancestral home rather than that of an institutional collection.

After considering various alternatives, the Foundation entered into negotiations with the Metropolitan Museum of Art, an institution especially close to Mr. Lehman’s heart, and of which he had been Chairman. These negotiations were quickly brought to a mutually satisfactory conclusion, and on January 30, 1970, the collection of more than three thousand works of art, dating from the early Renaissance to the 20th Century, was transferred to the Metropolitan Museum, where it is housed today in the Robert Lehman Wing and exhibited in accordance with Mr. Lehman’s wishes. 

It is the mission of the Foundation to fulfill and further Robert Lehman’s vision and therefore to support the visual arts in any fashion that seems likely to enhance the appreciation, knowledge and enjoyment of this central aspect of our culture.

It is the mission of the Foundation to fulfill and further Robert Lehman’s vision and therefore to support the visual arts in any fashion that seems likely to enhance the appreciation, knowledge and enjoyment of this central aspect of our culture.

Guidelines

The Robert Lehman Foundation operates exclusively in the field of the visual arts. The Foundation supports museum exhibitions, art education programs, scholarly publications and art history lectureships that complement the strengths of the Robert Lehman Collection at The Metropolitan Museum of Art and advance the goal of identifying the Foundation with serious scholarly endeavors. The art education programs we support share the goal of providing art education to underserved communities that have insufficient access to any type of arts learning, This stems from the Foundation’s strong belief that access to the arts improves the lives of people and communities.

The Snee-Reinhardt Charitable Foundation is a family foundation based on the philanthropic principals and traditions that began with William Snee and his wife Katherine Reinhardt-Snee several decades ago. 

Their contributions supported the continued development of humanitarian programs, food and clothing for disaster relief, growth of the fine arts, advancement in medical research and innovation in educational programming. Even though the Snee-Reinhardt Charitable Foundation encompasses many broad areas of concern, or categories, there is no one area deemed more important than the next. Nevertheless, the Foundation has found it beneficial underwriting grants that are tangible in nature or serve a higher number of individuals within the community and surrounding areas. The Foundation continually aids organizations that are endlessly striving to serve the community in various ways such as improving social conditions, expanding education, and working to better the environment.

Category Definitions

The Snee-Reinhardt Charitable Foundation’s Board of Directors has designated several areas of concern comprised of specific intentions.

• Arts/Culture: Performing arts, humanities, media and communications, multipurpose museums, public broadcasting, and historical preservations.
• Education: Promotional programs for elementary, secondary and vocational systems, colleges/universities, graduate programs, adult and multipurpose libraries.
• Environmental: Support of natural resources, beautification programs, pollution control, environmental education, and horticultural/botanical programs.
• Health/Medical: Rural health care, crisis intervention, special programs in health centers, and prevention/treatment of specific diseases.
• Human Services: Youth development and recreation, disaster relief, employment training/ placement, multipurpose agencies, and abuse prevention.
• Religion: The theological education and ecumenical programs as well as the mission of many churches, synagogues, and religious charities.
• Miscellaneous: Because every grant cannot be included into a category, the Snee-Reinhardt Charitable Foundation permits grants for animal welfare, community development, sports, camps, fire and police departments and economic development as miscellaneous grants.  

Max and Victoria Dreyfus Foundation Grant

The Foundation will consider requests to support museums, cultural and performing arts programs; schools and hospitals; educational, skills-training and other programs for youth, seniors, and persons with disabilities; environmental and wildlife protection activities; and other community-based organizations and programs.

The applications are reviewed regularly and accepted through the deadline above for the current year.

About

The Robert & Toni Bader Charitable Foundation was created in 2010 to provide philanthropic support to help make the world a better place. Based in Indianapolis, Indiana, our mission is to help further Jewish ideals in the areas of education, science and the arts. 

Since our beginning, we’ve funded projects from New York to California, Michigan to Florida. We have helped teachers educate, helped children learn, helped feed the hungry, helped people earn a living, helped provide work for the unemployed, and helped find new ways to treat illness and improve quality of life. If you are engaged in any of these activities, let us hear from you.

Our logo, the Tree of Life, is a universal symbol of growth and re-growth, providing benefits to the present and future. The circle represents unity and continuity within our communities and our lives.

Guidelines

The Robert & Toni Bader Charitable Foundation (rtbcf) was created to help achieve the Jewish Ideals of improving the world through Science, Education and the Arts.

We do not have minimum or maximum grant amounts. Grants are made based on our evaluation of your project, the number of grants we are considering, and the amount of funds we have to distribute.

The foundation, as stated in its bylaws, will make contributions to qualified exempt organizations under section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code for, but not limited to, the following purposes: 

• literacy
• Jewish education
• nationwide recycling programs
• alternative energy
• classical musical education
• public radio & television
• museums
• wildlife conservation
• theater
• music education
• HIV/AIDS research
• Hemophilia research
• food for the hungry